Yokohama to set up office at MSU research park

The Industry Partners Building in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park. Yokohama Tire Co. opened an office in the building.Photo by: Russ Houston/MSU University Relations

President of Yokohama Rubber Company Hikomitsu Noji, flanked by West Point Mayor Scott Ross and MDA Executive Director Brent Christensen, applauds in this Dispatch file photo during a ceremony highlighting the Japanese tire company's announcement that it will be opening a branch in Clay County.Photo by: Dispatch file photo

Yokohama Tire Corporation, which announced a partnership with Mississippi earlier this year to locate a manufacturing plant in Clay County, will open an office at the Thad Cochran Research Park and Industry building.

The site will serve as the Japanese corporation's headquarters while the plant is under construction, Mississippi State University officials confirmed Wednesday.

According to a MSU University Relations release, the global tire manufacturer will use the space as a "center for strategic and logistical operations for Yokohama Tire while overseeing the development of its manufacturing facility."

MSU officials say the space will house departments including human resources management, business planning and general management as contractors begin building the first phase of the plant, which is expected to provide 500 jobs in the Golden Triangle area once operation begins in 2015. That is a $300 million investment from Yokohama and a $70 million incentive package from the state. With the help of an additional $60 million in state funding, the project is expected to create an additional 1,500 jobs once all four phases are completed in 2023.

At full capacity, the plant is expected to produce one million tires a year, officials said when the partnership was announced in April.

For more information on the announcement, see Thursday's edition of The Dispatch.